The outcome of the ANCs long-awaited KwaZulu-Natal conference was a win for the Thuma Mina crowd. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
Yes, the North-West University (NWU) makes a difference! The formidable programmes of the Unit for Open Distance Learning of the NWU have already made a huge difference over the past 10 years to the lives of about 50 000 people, with the conferring of degrees and diplomas to distance students.
Although this unit has put down roots in Potchefstroom, its branches have spread so much that further teachers’ training is now available in neighbouring countries such as Namibia, Botswana and Lesotho.
According to the executive director of the unit, Professor Manie Spamer, these programmes provide a critical need for our country by further training teachers while they work full-time, support their families and still perform their duties in their communities.
The aim of the programme is to take unqualified and under-qualified teachers at least up to a three-year training level after matric.
Spamer says universities worldwide are in the process of adapting to changing circumstances because facilities at traditional contact and residential universities cannot meet the demand for higher education anymore.
“America is experiencing a crisis because the demand for post-school qualifications exceeds the current supply, and universities struggle to meet market needs due to dwindling infrastructure, funds and flow-through figures.
“Due to the ever-increasing demand for teachers’ training — to provide for urgent national needs — the NWU decided about 13 years ago to invest in distance learning. We are the first traditional contact university to present distance programmes on a large scale.
“Through open distance learning we address the needs of the country. This method of delivery gives access to especially previously disadvantaged groups, who otherwise would not have been able to study further.
“Distance learning changes lives by creating opportunities for study and support, which otherwise would have been outside the reach of many people.”
According to Spamer, the unit runs 10 programmes, which include five programmes in the faculty of education, four in health sciences and one in theology.
Teacher learning primarily entails lecturers broadcasting classes via interactive white-boards to 55 study centres in South Africa and other countries. The number of classrooms at study centres that are equipped with white-boards for contact classes range from one to four, depending on which programmes are presented.
“All lectures are broadcast from modern and well-equipped studios and are stored on the internet. If a student missed a class, or wants to look at the lecture again, he or she has full access to it,” says Spamer.
“At each centre there is a full-time centre manager, two IT specialists as well as a sources and computer centre co-ordinator.”
He says the unit serves more than 35 500 students and comprises 73 full-time and about 300 part-time staff members.
“I predict that distance learning is going to change significantly in the next five to eight years, more than it did in the past 20 years.”
Foreign evaluators regard the programmes of the unit as better than similar courses at many other universities. According to two experts from one of the largest distance tuition institutions in the world, The Open University in the United Kingdom, Professors Frank Banks and Peter Knight, there is no equal to the programme in South Africa. They say the programmes exceed South African prescripts.
In a report by four international experts on distance tuition from Australia (Professor Toni Downs), Belgium (Professor Piet Hendrikx), Uganda (Dr Jessica Aguti) and England (Professor Frank Banks), the programmes and the operation of distance tuition were evaluated. They recommended that the model of the unit should be expanded to take the lead in Africa.
The quality of the programmes was also evaluated by subject specialists from the Higher Education quality committee in South Africa.
Graduation ceremonies are held annually in Namibia (Windhoek and Ongwediva), Polokwane, Nelspruit, Durban, East London and George.
Next year the unit starts with the degree of BA Governance in Police Practice, for members of the South African Police Service and security firms. Spamer says other degrees are in the planning phase and will be introduced soon.